Zevzda.

[Guest]

I'm surprised to see so many shops are still selling this make during the present war in the Ukraine. At the moment my love of Russian armour is none existent , as you all know I was always built Russian military.
Are these sellers getting new supplies and how. or just trying to move old stock.No doubt this will be removed and I will have to stand in the corner .

[Ian M]

I just think that most have just stopped buying them. A bit of a shame for the shop, it is not them that have gone to war, they are also a victim.
Lets not get all beaten out of shape about this post. A valid point from you side John.
BUT if the partly political broadcasts start, the plug will get pulled.

[Guest]

I just think that most have just stopped buying them. A bit of a shame for the shop, it is not them that have gone to war, they are also a victim.
Lets not get all beaten out of shape about this post. A valid point from you side John.
BUT if the partly political broadcasts start, the plug will get pulled.

Thank you Ian, its certainly not a political one, just an observation.

[Jim R]

It is difficult to seperate the actions of Putin and his supporters from the "ordinary" Russian people. If people stop buying Zvezda kits who will suffer - the people working in the Zvezda factory or the warmongers. I don't know but I do find it all rather depressing. Certainly something to make us all think.

[Tim Marlow]

My feeling is that shops are still getting stock John. If they weren’t I would have expected more of their items out of stock by now. It, of course, could be that the restock is coming from wholesaler, not that any more is being delivered by the manufacturers.

[wasdale32]

If the local model shop owner had already bought the stock BEFORE the start of the hostilities and hasn't refreshed stock since then why should we affect their sales? It's a different matter if they have continued to source the product since February. My local model shop owner doesn't deserve to lose out because of the actions of an east European despot.

[rickoshea52]

I was in a model shop in Tallinn earlier this year and the owner saw me looking at the Zvezda stock, she said she wouldn’t be ordering any new stock.
My local model shop near me has had the same Zvezda kits on the shelf now for a while (including a Hind and Hercules) and I haven’t seen any new stuff for months.

[Guest]

I'm surprised to see so many shops are still selling this make during the present war in the Ukraine. At the moment my love of Russian armour is none existent , as you all know I was always built Russian military.
Are these sellers getting new supplies and how. or just trying to move old stock.No doubt this will be removed and I will have to stand in the corner .

Keep building your Russian models, it was not you that started the invasion of a sovereign country. And your subjects are of another era. You were nowhere near a certain bridge at the weekend were you, we all know about you and fire.....

[John]

The UK importer had plenty stock, I have been replenishing my stock the same as I would any brand, they are still able to bring in new stock, I don’t know the full details but apparently it comes in via other countries that don’t have the same sanctions, there will also be a 35% price increase, so I can’t see that I will be ordering more, but as Jim said, it’s the normal people that suffer, I would guess most won’t know the full truth, only what they get told.

[Gavalaar1980]

This is a good point. The trouble is Zvezda figures are of exceptional quality in my opinion but it's the about the principal at present; I won't be buying them again sadly. G

[Guest]

Thank you for all the replies, most of the modelling companies have Russian subjects. Mini Art being in the Ukraine haven't withdrawn any of their Russian kits and they certainly have a good number , nor have any others from the Ukraine.
It was Zevzda that interested me mainly as they are perhaps the best known manufacturer in Russia at the present time .Very interesting post from John , esp the 35 % increase
Glad this post didn't get bogged down in political points , so thanks for that .

[Guest]

It, of course, could be that the restock is coming from wholesaler, not that any more is being delivered by the manufacturers.

There was some talk about this on Missing-Lynx the other day, and apparently Zvezda’s (European?) distributor is in Austria, who, I suppose, either have enough stock or are perhaps getting resupplied via a third country? In the first case I suppose Zvezda kits would eventually disappear from the shops if this war continues long enough, in the second they might not but I would expect prices to go up — like John also indicated. At least Zvezda kits were never expensive anyway, so even a 35% increase still makes them cheaper than many alternatives. But it would be up to everyone themselves to decide whether or not to continue buying them, or only buying “old” stock rather than new, or whatever. Kind of a conundrum, as I would like their new WC-51 to build as one I used to see in my village in my youth …

it’s the normal people that suffer, I would guess most won’t know the full truth, only what they get told.

This seems to be a fairly good look at how Russian news about all of this is different from what we here see on TV. (Which, I need to point out, I don’t mean as any kind of political statement — watch the video, it is very neutral and from a Russian who recently decided to go on an extended holiday in Istanbul.)

[Dave Ward]

Zvezda are still pushing out new models, the latest being the 1/35 WC-51 'Beep' - the Facebook page hasn't been updated since March & comments disabled - their website doesn't seem to be being updated. I still keep an eye on them, but there's nothing being posted..............
Dave

[Ian M]

the Facebook page hasn't been updated since March & comments disabled - their website doesn't seem to be being updated. I still keep an eye on them, but there's nothing being posted..............

Well The FaceBook thing is easy. they are blocked I think that the normal FB service has been pulled in Russia. (Not fact checked).
That you would even dare visit a Russian web site. Brave man, lol